Hermione The Jellicle
by Wishes Of A Dying Giant
Summary: An alternate version of what happened after Hermione Granger took the Polyjuice Potion in Chamber Of Secrets. Oneshot. I do not own Harry Potter or Cats. (Even though I wish I did.)


Hermione the Jellicle

 **Side Note: I do not own Harry Potter or CATS.**

"C'mon, Hermione!"

Hermione heard Ron and Harry pleading for her to come out of the bathroom stall.

Moaning Myrtle was laughing hysterically.  
"She looks awful," she shrieked. And with that, Myrtle dove into Hermione's stall and disappeared into the toilet with a _plop_.

"Mione, please come out!" Harry pleaded.

"No, I'm hideous," Hermione bawled. If she came out, she was sure to be the laughingstock of all of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Well, you leave me no choice," Ron said. " _Alohomora_!"

She saw a small flash of light, and the lock on the stall unlocked itself. The door swung open.

Harry and Ron stared in shock. Hermione was covered in tawny fur from head to toe, her big brown eyes now replaced with bright green irises with a black slit of a pupil. If they looked closely, they could see her tail swishing around behind her.

"The Polyjuice Potion…" she muttered. Her canines had grown sharper, almost like fangs.

"It didn't work. That wasn't Millicent Bulstrode's hair I had – it was her cat's. And now look at me!" Tears were wetting the fur on her face. "I won't be able to come out of here for at least a month!"

"Let's get you to Madam Pomfrey," Harry offered. And off they went.

"Hmmm…" Madam Pomfrey examined Hermione's fur as Hermione sat on one of the infirmary beds. She grabbed two hairs on Hermione's arm and yanked at them.

"Ouch!" Hermione exclaimed, wincing and clutching her arm in pain.

Madam Pomfrey nodded to herself, then motioned to the 2nd year student to open her mouth.  
"Say 'Acromantula'."

"Acromantulaaaaaaa."

Madam Pomfrey looked at Hermione's teeth and clucked to herself.

"My dear, dear girl," the nurse began. "I believe you have _Felinius_."

"Felinius?" Hermione sputtered out. "But that means-"

"I'm quite sorry, dear, but it seems as if you will keep this form permanently."

Hermione gasped.

"Miss Granger-" Madam Pomfrey began. But she didn't have to finish, because Hermione was already out the door.

The next morning, Harry and Ron woke up to find Hermione sitting on Neville's empty bed, fur and all.

"What brings you up here, Hermione?" Ron asked.

"I…" Hermione needed to take a minute before finishing her sentence. "I'm leaving Hogwarts."

"Wha?" Harry and Ron shouted simultaneously.

"This form – it's permanent. I can never go back to looking like this." Hermione held up a picture of her, Harry and Ron at the end of their first year at wizarding school.

Ron looked sad. "You don't have to leave, Hermione."

"I don't belong here anymore."

"You don't-" Harry insisted.

Hermione looked at him sadly, but smiling. "I'll find a place for me out there."

The two young wizards looked at each other and accepted the reality of the situation.

"Promise to send us letters?" Harry asked.

"I'll try," Hermione said.

Ron stood up. "I'll miss you, you know," he said. Hermione said nothing. She just leaned forward and gave Ron a soft kiss on the cheek.

"I'll miss you too, Ronald Weasley," she said, smiling. She turned to Harry. "And I'll miss you too." She gave him a big hug, then turned toward the door.

"I guess this is goodbye, then." Harry said sadly.

"I guess. Well, goodbye, boys. Oh, and Ron?"

Ron perked up.

"You've got dirt on your nose. Did you know?" She pointed out where it was. "It's right there."

Smiling, Ron rubbed his nose. "Thanks. 'Mione."

She smiled at them, and then she was gone.

A week later, Hermione was sleeping in an alley, thinking of Hogwarts and how much she missed it. She missed Harry and Ron, and MacGonagall, and Dumbledore… Heck, she even missed Malfoy's annoying mockery.

"Who are you?" said a thick Cockney accent. It sounded like there was a boy looking over her.

Hermione looked up to find… no, it wasn't her. He looked like her, but his fur was a mixture of black, white, and bright orange, and he was sporting a mischievous grin.

"Who are _you_?" Hermione exclaimed, backing away into a corner.

"Aw, c'mon, don't be afraid of old Mungojerrie," he teased. He walked towards her, then held out a hand clad in a fingerless glove. "I won't hurt ya. What's your name?"

"Hermione."

She reached out and took his hand.

"Who are you and why do you look like me?" Hermione asked as they walked down the streets of London.

"I already told ya, I'm Mungojerrie," he said. "And I didn't always look like this. I got some sort of condition. What was it again? Felicity? Fraternity? Fre-"

"Felinius?" Hermione guessed.

"Yeah, that's the one," Mungojerrie exclaimed. "I got embarrassed of it, so I ran away. And that's when they found me."

"Who found you?"

"Why, the Jellicles, of course. They're people just like you and me. They all got Felinius in some way, and somehow, we all found each other."

"Why can't anyone see us?" Hermione wondered. People on each side of her looked through her, as if they were never there.

"Quaxo," Mungojerrie said, as if that answered everything. Hermione stared at him.

"Oh, right, you don't know," he said, remembering. "Quaxo used to be a wizard. Went to this place called Hogwarts."

"Oh?" Hermione exclaimed excitedly. "I went to Hogwarts!"  
"Really?" Mungojerrie exclaimed. "You're magical?"  
"Bloody right I am," Hermione said proudly. "Now what about that Quaxo?"

"Well, from what he told me, he drank some potion gone wrong by accident, and the following morning, he had black and white fur all over his body."

"Wow," Hermione said. She wasn't alone!

"Here we are," Mungojerrie announced as they reached a junkyard filled with oversized things such as tires and even a large car with the letters TSE on the license plate.

Hermione could not believe her eyes. There were people – or should she say cats – just like her.

"Oy Teazer!" Mungojerrie called over to a cat that looked just like him. She bounded over and held out her hand for a shake.

"The name's Rumpleteazer," she said in an accent as thick as Mungojerrie's as she shook Hermione's hand vigorously. "My job is to bring you to the boss for the swearing-in."

"Okay," Hermione said. "And who's this boss?"

"Old Deuteronomy."

"Oh…"

"Don't worry, lassie," Rumpleteazer said to Hermione. "You'll fit in just fine."

And, in her heart, Hermione truly felt like she would.


End file.
